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Reclamation of Taenia
The Reclamation of Taenia was a conflict between the forces of the Duchy of the Ashen Coast and the Forsaken and stranded orcs of the Kor'kagal Warband in the fallen Earldom of Taenia in the Fallow Crest. =First Part= ---- War Council at Fairwind At the behest of Lord Nicholas Graveshire, a call to arms was addressed to the members of the Duchy of the Ashen Coast against the immediate threat of orcs and Forsaken in the fallen Earldom of Taenia, located just north of the Storm's Crag. A war council was held in Fairwind Port on Friday October 9th, 1147 F.A.. The Rediron Gates On October 11th, the forces of the Duchy arrived before the southern Rediron Gates. Though too thick to penetrate with artillery, the Inner circle decided to send their troops to harass the lower quarters of the gates while they took the gate controls in the upper levels. When one of the entrance gates gave way, they infiltrated the Redirons, where they were confronted to Warlord Mugthor Grimsheer and his forces. Unaware of the demise of Garrosh Hellscream, he ordered his men to attack in the deceased Warchief's name. The group engaged Grimsheer and his men. The Warlord, a master Blademaster, personally entered the fray and wrecking havoc with his blade, Grimsheer. Despite their heavy resistance, the orcs started falling back to the second Rediron, the Gilneans claiming the first gate. Several days after taking the first Rediron, the group had garrisoned within it as they prepared to siege the second Rediron gate. Now prepared for the incoming attack, the orcs had already sent their troops in the field. The Inner circle gathered their troops to assault the second gate, sieging it with ''Wolf''-class Siege Engines manned by gnomish engineers. As the Horde targeted the Siege Engines, the soldiers were forced to protect the tanks and ensure they reached the wall. Despite losing a siege engine in the fight, two of managed to reach the gate and started to pound on it. Overwhelmed, Grimsheer vowed not to underestimate the Gilneans again as he retreated back into Taenia, his men defeated. Soon, the Gilnean flag flew over the southern Rediron Gates once more. Taenia had been breached, and the Gilneans controlled the southern entry point in and out of Taenia. Infiltration Several days later, the group gathered in the war room, where they started planning their movements in Taenia and reviewing the information the scouts had retrieved. Forced to decide between attacking the Dredge, an inhospitable area used to hold human slaves, or the Writhing Marsh, which could be used as a strategic base area, they decided on attacking the Dredge in order to free the human slaves held there, watched over the crazed House of Ralerton under Nathaniel Ralerton. First, however, they would have to take a Horde forward camp found in the field between them and the Dredge. Sneaking to the entrance of the camp while the armies held the hordes at bay, the Inner Circle met face to face with Mugthor Grimsheer once more. The orc, surprised to see Elenet Spanhammer riding an extinct riverbeast of Draenor, was tricked into believing that they had power over time and ordered his men to capture her and her mount. Duchess escaped, but Spanhammer was taken captive as Grimsheer took her on his worg, leaving for Mug'gol as the Inner Circle engaged the forces in the camp. As his men were dying, Sir Taeric Callimere sheathed his weapon and held a white banner. When the last one died he surrendered, revealing himself to be one of Taeric Grimwold's knights in life, and that the elderly earl still lived and was being held captive beneath the Dredge. Having completed his duty, he left himself to the mercy of the Inner Circle and was decapitated by Lord John McCallan. After his sword was claimed and the body cremated, a series of strange events happened, starting with an explosion echoing from the Dredge as smoke hazed everywhere. Horns were heard in the distance as Lord Nicholas Graveshire was lifted in the air by a strange light before being dropped. Shortly afterwards, Elenet Spanhammer, having been dropped from Grimsheer's worg, had made her way back to the forward camp. The explosion in the Dredge would later have been revealed to be an accident, the Forsaken accidentally detonating most of their ammunition and explosives which resulted in most of them fleeing or taking a stand. Freeing the Earl The next day, the group rode to the Dredge holdout where the Earl was said to be held. Too undermanned to defend themselves adequately, the remaining Forsaken fell within the hour, the group splitting up to search for clues to the Earl's whereabouts. Adrian Gregor prayed, attempting to find any souls he felt in the area. Sensing immense amounts of death in the holdout, he felt one still beating, though defiled and below ground. Meanwhile, Nicholas Graveshire searched the nearby chapel, where he was attacked by a Forsaken straggler who dropped a scroll from his satchel. A quick spell revealed that it was cursed with a Curse of Fatigue, and he put it back down where Adaliene Haven would later find it, though she was warned of its curse in time. At the main gates, Elenet Spanhammer found a dead Orc courier laying against the ground carrying a coded letter, and immediately set to figure out the code and translate it. In the barracks, which were mostly intact due to its distance from the blast, Aeliren Chesterhill found a runed key. Elsewhere, Riley Seabrook found what appeared to be the command station, where she was ambushed by a pair of Forsaken soldiers. Calling for help, Adrian Gregor, Idrya Haven, Berenal Grayblade and Lillian Graveshire responded, easily overwhelming the Forsaken. Catching a forsaken trying to sneak out of the building, Lillian chained the undead with the Light, destroying it and finding another runed key in its hand. Searching the town hall, Adrian bumped his foot against a door hidden in the floor, prompting Lord Grayblade to call the group to the town hall. There, everyone presented what they discovered. The scroll had its curse broken, revealing its content: :"Secure the Earl and his men. We will not have them running about again. His anti magic shackles haven't arrived yet, but we can keep him weakened in other ways. Split up the keys and hold until we can arrive. :Chaingore will maintain his vigil. Do not let any of them escape!" -- Torick Kollivare Going below ground, the group arrived in a series of dark caverns, quickly lit by Muzula Silverweave. However, the flame revealed the abomination Chaingore standing close to her, and when Boris Reonius arrived to help her out she was hooked by the abomination and flung into him, and the pair were tossed into a crevasse of sludge. Elenet stood by the ledge in tears while the rest of the group engaged the abomination, but was convinced to join the fight. After the first few attacks, Chaingore hooked Berenal, swinging him into Khloros Darkwatcher and Nulric Ironcrag, bashing the three of them and tossing the Duke aside. The group finished off the abomination shortly afterwards, and it exploded, revealing the bridge behind it. However, the bridge was closed with both sides retracted, and across it could be seen an old man in armor. Aeliren and Lillian used the keys they found earlier to open the bridge, and the group crossed while Jenmah Petalbrew took the wounded Duke back to the forward base. Finding the Earl and his men in chains with no keys, they smashed the bindings. They brought the aged man up to speed on some of the events of the past five years, taking him and his knights back to their forward base. Siege of the Dredge Meeting in the war room of the captured orc stronghold, the Inner circle was now joined by Earl Taeric Grimwold III in order to plan their attack on the Dredge and save the prisoners. The Dredge had two points of entry that had to be controlled in order to save the captives. With covert operations not an option, they assembled their troops to siege the Dredge. While they occupied the Forsaken soldiers, a group of gnomish demolitionists under Elenet Spanhammer made its way to the gate to destroy it. As the gate fell, a massive flesh titan crafted from the dead of Taenia stepped forward. Forced to fall back beyond the walls of the Dredge, the remaining soldiers prepared themselves to hold the line against the behemoth. As the walls began crumbling, a horn sounded beyond, Taeric Grimwold III and his knights arrived and began charging the creature, bringing it down as they began reaving it apart. Miraculously, none of the knights were killed in the fight, as no corpses bearing their colors were found in the aftermath of the battle. Just as Grimwold entered the Dredge, Nathaniel Ralerton was being dragged out of the keep, the crazed man fidgeting and screaming before being put to rest by his liege. However, before being killed he claimed that he saw Taeric die. Shortly afterwards, the prisoners were let free, and approximately one thousand men and women were rescued from the Dredge. They were all malnourished, and many were sickly or looked shocked. As they exited, some hugged the Earl or the soldiers present. In the aftermath, Taeric Grimwold took command of the remaining forces of Taenia and they guard the southern Rediron Gates and what would later be established as Ashstorm Hold. =Second Part= ---- Call to Arms For several months, the threat in Taenia remained undealt with, and so during the month of March of 1148 F.A., Orcish riders began traversing the mountains into Storm's Crag. Though the riders were intercepted by scouts and no damage had been done, Lord Nicholas Graveshire addressed a call to arms to the lords and ladies of the Ashen Coast, and a war meeting took place in Fairwind Port on Tuesday March 22nd, 1148 F.A. Infiltration - Redux The plan was to infiltrate the Dredge while disguised as orcs, which would put the Forsaken on edge towards their allies. Thus, with the help of magical illusions the Blades infiltrated and sabotaged the Forsaken base with success. However, at one point a felhound attacked Earl Grimwold, dispelling his illusion and revealing him as an undead. Though shocked, the Blades completed their mission as the Earl insisted that he was on their side. Upon their return to Ashstorm, the group debated on what to do with the Earl and his men, who were all undead save one: Alexander Grimwold, Taeric's eldest son who had integrated himself into his father's guard to verify the rumors of his survival. Ultimately, the decision was made to keep Taeric in service until Taenia was liberated, renewing the illusion so that his people wouldn't lose hope. Into the Dredgehold The Blades then moved into the region of the Dredge, entering the Dredgehold. There, it was revealed that the House of Ralerton, in the form of Lady Berina Ralerton had survived to the present day, kept safe by the court wizard and the Eagle-Knights, who had fallen to undeath yet had retained their link to the Light. After making their way through a conjured maze, the Blades met with Lady Ralerton and convinced her to aid them in exchange for new lands to replace the ravaged Dredge. Infiltration of Grimwold's Fall The Blades soon found out that two of Taeric Grimwold's children, the twins Rodreick and Gwendelynne Grimwold were being held in Grimwold's Fall. In order to free them, they infiltrated the city and began searching for them, ultimately finding them in a chapel after the two had escaped captivity on their own. In addition, they freed a number of slaves from the city, destroyed the Forsaken's plague vats in the area and slew the Val'kyr Svolyana the Chilled before leaving Grimwold's Fall. The Writhing Marsh Making their way to the Writhing Marshes, the Blades found that the area was infested with marsh wraiths. They eventually found their way through and spoke with the spirit of Lady Gertrude Tyne, who was willing to lend aid until something was said that angered her, prompting her to attack the group through a manifestation of her son. The Blades defeated the manifestation, then managed to convince her to lend aid. Though a comment by Nulric Ironcrag almost caused her to take it back, she was convinced to lend them some measure of aid, though barely. Attack on Mug'gol With the Grimwold children secure and their allies assembled, the Blades prepared to attack the Orc base, Mug'gol. Under Warlord Mugthor Grimsheer, the Orcs had built their city over the ruins of Taeriean's Hold, and had built atop of their hold a massive cannon which they planned to strike at the Ashen Coast with. Though they were unable to stop the cannon from firing, the Blades were able to halt it before it caused more than minor damage to the outskirts of Mistholme. With the fall of Warlord Grimsheer, the remaining orcs and the warlord's mate retreated to the northern Rediron Gates. Taeric and his Lionsguard followed the orcs back to the Redirons, where they ultimately chose to sacrifice themselves, detonating the gates and destroying all of the remaining Horde forces at the cost of their lives. Battle for the Kollspire The Blades assembled at the base of the Kollspire, where Torick had assembled what remained of his troops. With the aid of the Eagle-Knights and the Marsh Wraiths, the Blades laid siege to the Forsaken, breaking through and fighting their way up to the top to finally put an end to Torick. Torick's Last Stand As the battle raged below, Torick drew upon the power of the fallen souls in preparation. When his troops fell, the Blades ascended up the spire to confront the Traitor of Taenia. Against all odds, Torick fell to the combined forces present. With Torick's death, the sudden surge of energy revitalized the Kollspire and the surrounding area. Thus, Taenia was freed and Alexander Grimwold was appointed as lord of the Earldom. The Kollspire was renamed Terrisa's Rest, and it served as the de facto seat of power in the region while Grimwold's Fall, reclaimed and renamed Taeric's Stand, was being repaired. Category:Events Category:Campaigns